3 Ways to Make Your Low-carb Life Easier

Howdy y’all – This is random but I’ve been doing the low-carb (no sugar, rice, beans, wheat, potatoes, sugary fruits, etc.), paleo, dairy-free, egg-free, coconut-free thing for a while now and here’s a couple pro-tips:

Make a “default” grocery list. Use your computer, phone, handwritten list on the fridge- whatever works for you – and construct a list of the foods you CAN eat. Have a plan when you get to the store -don’t just wander around looking at all of the amazingly delicious things you can’t have. Get in, get your meat and veggies and get out!

I have my list on my computer organized by store. Then the lists are in the order the items appear in the store so I don’t have to backtrack. I just hand write in the weird stuff we don’t buy all of the time. (Please note: non-paleo items are for my husband, who is a carboholic!)

Become friends with your crock pot. (Especially if you hate cooking every. single. meal.) You don’t have to get fancy with it either – just throw in a cheap piece of meat, put 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, dump some random spices on it, and leave it on low for 8ish hours. Bam. Protein. Then you can eat something like spinach salad with it and it’ll take just a few seconds to prep your dinner in the evening.

Mmmmm meat.

Have a plan for on the go food. Being low-carb is hard when you’re out of the house. You can’t rely on mini-marts or restaurants for food in the same way other people can. (especially if you’re poor and double especially if you’re allergic to everything) I mean you could, but eating almonds and jerky all of the time can get expensive, boring, and seriously lacks in the veggie department. Anyway, plan to bring a salad/soup with you when you go somewhere. If you don’t have a thermos or access to a fridge, my default lately has been salami, almond butter or almonds, and a can of green beans that you can pull the top off of. Yep. It’s kinda weird, but it’s a plan, and it works. If you’ve got a little more $$ and time, pre-pick out what restaurants offer meals that work for you. Planning = Success.

Portable Veggies.

If you have questions, feel free to ask me. I’ve been at this for several years now and I’ve probably been-there-tried-that.